Whats a “web bug” ?
“Web Bug” is the term for a new and nasty (potent) tracking technology. It’s extra nasty since even eMail messages can be “bugged” and mass mailers (spammers) can, and do, use these bugs to confirm your receipt and viewing of their spam, even if you then delete the note! A web bug is usually a minimum size, one pixel high by one pixel wide (1×1) transparent .gif image. Being transparent you can’t see anything, yet any HTML-enabled viewer, including your browser, eMail, news, or other “client” will fetch the tiny .gif image from a foreign server whenever the image is displayed. If cookies are enabled then a full “cookie exchange” will transpire as well and you already know what THAT means about loss of privacy! But, more importantly, even if cookies are NOT enabled, a new technology, which I call “fake dates”, can still be used to track you individually.
